Facebook has just announced that it will acquire Instagram, the popular mobile photo-sharing service, for $1 billion in cash and shares.

The social networking giant posted on the acquisition, its biggest yet, on its site, as well as on CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg’s Timeline on Facebook.

Photos are critically important for Facebook, which has been slow to innovate in the fast-growing mobile arena in the important consumer space. By contrast, Instagram has taken the arena by storm, with its delightful and elegant app and the motto, “Fast beautiful photo sharing.”

Consumers have responded (including me — it is the only non-communications app I use many times a day). The San Francisco-based company — with only 13 employees — had 30 million Apple iPhone users before it came to Google’s Android last week, where it got more than a million new users in just 12 hours.

For those so obsessed with social networking, behold the Facebook bed.

This concept by Croatian designer Tomislav Zvonarić is only in model form right now, but his creative vision mixes comfort with functionality.

The “F”-shaped bed touts a Facebook-logoed pillow and a comforter with familiar icons, such as Facebook’s birthday notification image. The logo also appears three times on the bed itself — one on each side, as well on the flat part of the upper curvature of the “F.”

A work area is also built into the space, allowing users to check Facebook updates on their computer while sitting in the upper section of the letter. Other amenities include a keyboard holder, a shelf for a mouse and a slight indentation for a computer screen. In addition, a chair — with a red-colored cover, also featuring a Facebook logo — is nestled into the upper part of the “F.”

The exact size of the model (as seen in the picture) is unknown as of now. If Zvonarić tried to actually produce and sell the beds, it would likely have to be approved by Facebook.

An Ohio man is facing charges after putting his 13-year-old daughter in a dog cage and binding her hands and feet with duct tape, authorities said.

After the girl escaped the cage the first time on Jan. 10, authorities told WLWT-TV that James Tapke put her back in and told her he would electrocute her if she escaped again. He then allegedly put an electrical jump pack in front of the cage.

Tapke was busted when concerned parents called police after his 12-year-old son posted photos of his sister in the cage on Facebook.

In a court hearing on Friday, Tapke’s lawyer argued that the alarming incident was all just a joke.

“We believe the evidence will eventually show that this was simply some horseplay that ended up, you know, taking pictures,” Christopher Jackson told the TV station. “It just doesn’t look that funny when you see it in pictures … Maybe not the best joke in the world, but I believe that’s what is going to come out later at trial.”

He was released on $50,000 bond. The children are staying with their grandparents.

Facebook recently announced more than 750 million active users worldwide. That’s ACTIVE users. Half use Facebook several times a day. Plus, 75% of marketers plan to increase their use of Facebook in 2011!

So let me ask you a question. Is your business leveraging the power of Facebook?

Keep reading to learn what’s changed with Facebook and to find out about a special event (from Social Media Examiner) just for businesses.

How Has Facebook Changed?

Facebook has changed a lot in the previous months—for example:

Tabs are gone.

Static FBML has been phased out.

Users can masquerade as a page.

If a user can masquerade as a page, one of your competitors can leave a comment on your pages, promoting their page (brand) to your users. Get ready for a new kind of spam!

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” That gent Peter Drucker was a sharp fellow. At Hello Bar we heartily agree, which is why one of the features of Hello Bar Pro is the ability to A/B test. As a bonus, you can try out A/B testing on Hello Bar Pro free for 14 days, with absolutely no obligation.

A/B testing allows a savvy website owner such as yourself to run multiple variations of a Hello Bar at the same time. Then, by analyzing how many clicks each variation gets, you’re able to determine which combo resonates with your visitors the most.

You can A/B test your headline, your call to action and your link color to your heart’s content. Hello Bar will run your tests automatically, while tidily tracking the performance of each. Once the results are in, you can crown the winner and implement that combination for all visitors to your site.

But let’s not rest on our laurels. The true beauty of the A/B test is that you can constantly run a new one, always trying a new variation against the top performer to date. This way you can iterate on your message and call to action, continually improving your clicks.